Daily News staff

NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock concedes some trepidation about calling Thursday night's game between the Eagles and Seattle.

A Haverford School graduate and Newtown Square resident, Mayock said he is a little bit nervous about how to explain the current situation in Philadelphia to a national audience.

"I'm excited about doing a hometown game," he told Sports Illustrated's Peter King during a podcast this week. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't. A part of me feels a little nervous about how to conveny what's going in Philadelphia and what the fair thing is and what's going to happen here next year and all those things. There is a lot more than meets the eye and I think it has to be handled with respect."

As for next year, though, Mayock is among those who think Andy Reid deserves to keep his job and return for another season.

"Philadelphia is a passionate city. I grew up here in West Philadelphia and I can say that. I understand it. It's Super Bowl win or bust. That's the attitude and I get it.

"What I try to tell people all the time is, there are 27 or 28 other NFL citieis that would give anything to have had the record Andy Reid has had the last 12 years. It seems like every year, he's in the final 4 or the final 6. The analogy I use is if you had 32 salesmen in the company and you have on guy who's a star but not a superstar and every year he finishes in the top 3, 4,5, are you going to fire him or pat him on the back and tell him to keep working hard and trying to get him to No. 1 ... They've got 5 games left, and think you find out a lot about people in these last five weeks. There are going to be some people that bail and there are going to be some peope that have just signed contracts and are new to town and don't really care and are gonig look around and say the grass is greener. We are going to find out a lot about exactly who cares and who doesn't in this organization over the next five games.

"I think Andy Reid deserves a second go-round ... May there be some changes in that staff? Maybe. At the end of the day, I think this guy deserves the opportunity to work it out moving forward."

As for King's view, "I've always thought if the players are still listening to you, if you're runnig a controlled ship, you're fine. You can withstand a real bad year, which is what they're going through this year. If you start having coaches arguing on the sidelines and have to bench your star receiver because you sense he's maybe not trying or giving it 100 percent, now my thought is a little bit difrerent and a little bit more open-minded.

"All along, I've said the Eagles could go 2-14 and I wouldn't fire Andy Reid. I think he's too good a coach and he's done too much. Bill Cowher in Year 13 was 6-10 ... and two years later he's holding the Super Bowl trophy. I'm not saying that will happen with the Eagles. I don't know what's going to happen. ... I think Reid deserves an absolute rotten year."

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